Delhi court extends custody of Sanjay Singh till October 13 in excise policy case
Sanjay Singh was arrested on October 4 by the ED following searches at his residence.
A Delhi court on Tuesday extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh till October 13 in the money laundering case related to the now scrapped Delhi liquor excise policy 2020-21.
Singh was arrested by the central probe agency on October 4 following searches at his residence as part of the ED's money laundering probe in the excise policy case. The ED had sought extension of custody by five days, alleging non-cooperation by Singh in the probe.
In its ED chargesheet, the agency had claimed that Sanjay Singh played a key role in the formulation and implementation of the now scrapped excise policy. The chargesheet also stated that the benefits of the policy were received by liquor manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. Singh is the second AAP leader after former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia to be arrested in the case.
The ED chargesheet claimed that a restaurant owner Dinesh Arora was allegedly close to both Singh and Sisodia. In July, Arora was arrested by the ED which claimed he played a key role in the case.
The ED alleged that Arora in 2020 received a call from the AAP MP saying that Delhi assembly elections were approaching and AAP was in need for funds.
The AAP has vociferously condemned the arrest of its senior leader. “They have been probing the alleged liquor scam for the last year but nothing has been found yet. Nothing will be found at Sanjay Singh's residence. When someone is staring at defeat, they resort to desperate measures. That is what is happening right now”, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had said on the day Singh was arrested.
The BJP had defended the arrest, calling Kejriwal as the ‘kingpin’. “The public of the nation and Delhi has understood that if there's a kingpin in the Liquor scam it is Arvind Kejriwal on whose indications the Liquor scam in Delhi took place. The accused Dinesh Arora who is a businessman has accepted that at Delhi CM's residence, the meeting was held”, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia had said.
